HERDchronicles

As fans wait to see if the Toronto Blue Jays will play their 2020 home games in Buffalo, it’s notable that there have been many major-league games played in the Queen City over the last 150-plus years. These games range from exhibition games to actual major-league games played when Buffalo had major-league franchises.

There have been numerous exhibition games played in Buffalo involving major-league clubs. The first such exampl...

Many players develop a bond with a city they play in during their career, but Arizona Diomandbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who starred for the Bisons' championship teams of the ‘90s and later managed the Herd, had deep-rooted ties to the Queen City long before he ever ever set foot here. “My grandfather migrated to basically downtown Buffalo, just north of downtown,” Lovullo said in a phone interview from his home in Arizona. “...

Of all the legendary players who have passed through Buffalo in its long history of professional sports, none has had a greater impact on sports or society than Jack Roosevelt Robinson. In 1946, Jackie Robinson played nine games at second base for the Montreal Royals at Buffalo’s Offermann Stadium. Buffalo baseball fans witnessed history as they watched Robinson prepare to break the major league color barrier the following spr...

Back in his playing days, Ken Huckaby had an idea he might get into coaching and managing. “I always knew as a player, with a little nudge from coaches I was playing for when I was in my mid- to late-30s or even my early-30s that I might have the potential to be ok coaching,” the former catcher said in an interview with The Herd Chronicles. “I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy it until I started it and figured out that I a...

In the long history of the Bisons, the team has had many outstanding managers. Legendary figures like George Stallings, Kerby Farrell, Ray Schalk, and Bill Clymer, as well as modern-era leaders like Terry Collins, Brian Graham, Eric Wedge, and Marty Brown have all left indelible marks on Buffalo baseball history by leading the Herd through unforgettable seasons, epic playoff races, and memorable post season battles. Their stor...

Anthony Kay is one of the most exciting young arms in a Blue Jays system loaded with prospects. The Long Island native was the top rated pitching prospect in the Mets organization prior to being acquired by the Blue Jays with Simeon Woods-Richardson last summer in the Marcus Stroman trade. The lefty is now the fourth rated prospect in the Blue Jays’ system according to MLB.com. In an organization chock-full of young talent, he...

Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play man Greg Brown looks back fondly on his five seasons calling Bisons games with Pete Weber and three years working with Van Miller on Bills games. Brown named the two Buffalo broadcast icons, along with two legendary Pittsburgh announcers, as having a major influence on him and his career. “My Mount Rushmore of mentors would be Pete Weber, Van Miller, Mike Lange, and Lanny Frattare,” Brown said....

Throughout Bisons history, which dates back to 1877, there have been 15 instances where a pitcher threw a nine-inning no-hitter and won the game. Fourteen different pitchers have accomplished this feat, with Baseball Hall of Famer Pud Galvin having done it twice. On August 19, 2019, T.J. Zeuch joined this exclusive club.

Zeuch, a 6’7”, 24-year-old right-hander, took the mound for the Herd in the first game of a four game series...

Bobby Meacham played 10 seasons of professional baseball, six of which were spent in the major leagues playing shortstop with the New York Yankees. He had the opportunity to play for some iconic managers in both the major and minor leagues, including Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Lou Piniella, Terry Collins, and Johnny Oates. Meacham sat down with us and talked about the different managerial styles of the men he played for, how ea...

One of the greatest pitchers’ duels in Bisons history, and certainly the longest, occurred on June 11, 1912, when Buffalo’s new veteran ace, Fred Beebe, and a young phenom for Toronto, Dick Rudolph, battled on the Buffalo Baseball Park mound for 19 long innings. Beebe joined the Bisons in 1912 at 32-years-old, already having pitched in seven major-league seasons, including a pair of 15-win seasons. Meanwhile, Toronto’s young a...